2023 Osyooos Eagle Bluff Fire
With the wind subdued and the smoke mostly traveling South, we ventured out to a restaurant on the West side of the lake in downtown Osoyoos for lunch. This image was shot at 1:45 pm looking due West up the hills where the smoke was. There was very little smoke in town, though we feared a slight wind change could bring it suddenly. The restaurant was crowded and people were watching six Canadian water bombers reloading in the lake, along with two larger planes apparently monitoring the fire progress.
Highway 3 West – up the Similkamen Valley had a “not recommended for travel” warning on Saturday night and Sunday, but when we left on Monday morning the road and surrounding country were just fine. We agreed that spectating from the East side of the lake was fascinating, but we (and those evacuated from the West side) were very lucky the wind was benign on Sunday and Monday.
As of Friday August 4 (7 days later) the Eagle Bluff fire was still deemed to be out of control, although it was mostly well to the West of Osoyoos and Oroville. 134 BC properties were still on evacuation order. We were all fortunate things weren’t worse.